Pinellas deputy purposefully crashes into car to stop more damage

A deputy with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Thursday used his vehicle to stop a car from spinning into on-coming traffic along Curlew Road, the Sheriff’s Office said.

According to investigators, Deputy Travis Sibley drove his fully marked Chevrolet Tahoe into a spinning Mazda 6 being driven by Dawn Ergang as her car spun towards oncoming traffic. It started with a crash just a moment earlier.

Deputies said Saralina Ponce was headed west on Curlew Road in a 2016 Nissan Altima as she approached U.S. 19. She saw an ambulance with its emergency lights activated coming up behind her and turned sharply into the left-turn lane, but continued into eastbound traffic at the intersection of U.S. 19 and Curlew Rod. Ergang was headed in the opposite direction and struck Ponce’s Altima, sending her car spinning back to

ward eastbound traffic.

According to a Sheriff’s Office news release, Sibley saw Ergang’s car heading toward traffic and “maneuvered his vehicle in an attempt to stop Ergang’s vehicle from continuing into on-coming traffic.”

Ergang’s car struck the front driver’s side of Sibley’s Tahoe and stopped.

Ponce was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. Sibley and Ergang weren’t injured.

The Sheriff’s Office said speed and impairment don’t appear to be a factor in the crash, but an investigation is ongoing.